Waste Management Act, 1996

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Waste prevention and minimisation.

28.—(1) For the purpose of promoting, supporting or facilitating the prevention or minimisation of waste, any Minister of the Government or a local authority may provide such support or assistance, including the provision of moneys, as he or she or the local authority considers appropriate in relation to research and development projects being carried out, or proposed to be carried out, by any person in respect of the prevention or minimisation of waste, and for the purposes aforesaid may establish programmes and specify criteria and objectives governing the availability and provision of such assistance and support.

(2) (a) A person who carries on any activity of an agricultural, commercial or industrial nature (including the manufacture of any product) shall have due regard to the need to prevent or minimise the production of waste from that activity and, as the case may be, from any product manufactured by him or her as a result of such an activity, and shall take all such reasonable steps as are necessary for the purposes of such prevention or minimisation (including, where appropriate, steps as respects the design of any product aforesaid).

(b) The Minister may by regulations specify steps, as respects any particular activity aforesaid, that shall be regarded as reasonable steps necessary to be taken for the purposes of the prevention or, as the case may be, minimisation of the production of waste referred to in paragraph (a), and a person who carries on such an activity shall take those steps accordingly.

(3) (a) Subject to paragraph (c), the Minister may, after consultation with any Minister of the Government concerned, make regulations for the purpose of preventing, minimising or limiting the production of waste or a specified class or classes of waste, and any such class may be defined by reference to the manufacturing or industrial process or other activity giving rise to the waste concerned or to such other matters as the Minister thinks appropriate.

(b) Subject as aforesaid, regulations under this section may include provisions for the imposition of producer responsibility obligations on producers of products.

(c) Regulations under this section shall only apply to a scheduled activity to such extent as the Minister may determine following consultation with the Agency.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), regulations under this section may provide for all or any of the following matters—

(a) requiring a person, in a specified manner, to conduct a waste audit and implement and operate a waste reduction programme in relation to an activity carried on by him or her,

(b) requiring the keeping of specified documents, records or other particulars, and the furnishing of specified information to specified persons or the publication of specified information, in relation to the conduct of a waste audit or the implementation and operation of a waste reduction programme,

(c) exempting a person from the requirements of regulations under the foregoing paragraphs, as respects a particular activity being carried on by that person, if and for so long as he or she is carrying out a specified environmental audit, or operating a specified environmental management system, in relation to the particular activity,

(d) prohibiting, otherwise than with the consent of a person prescribed for the purpose by regulations under paragraph (e), the display or use of any specified mark or symbol at any premises or on or in any product, substance, packaging, advertisement or notice,

(e) prescribing a person for the purposes of regulations under paragraph (d), the procedures to be followed by such a person in granting any consent under such regulations and enabling him or her to withdraw such a consent in specified circumstances,

(f) without prejudice to paragraph (g), requiring a person to use the best available technology not entailing excessive costs for preventing or limiting the production of waste from an activity carried on by the said person,

(g) the specification, by the Minister or such person as may be prescribed for the purpose by the regulations, of the best available technology not entailing excessive costs for preventing or limiting the production of waste from an activity carried on by a person specified in regulations under paragraph (f),

(h) requiring the producer of a specified class or classes of product to carry out a life cycle assessment in relation to the product, in such manner or in accordance with such standards or procedures as may be specified,

(i) prohibiting, or limiting or controlling in a specified manner and to a specified extent—

(i) the production or use, in a production process or otherwise, of any substance, material or thing,

(ii) the composition, production, importation, distribution, supply, sale, disposal or advertising of any product or substance, or

(iii) the production of any waste,

(j) specifying requirements to be complied with as respects the design, composition or production of packaging and the use which may be made of packaging, including a requirement—

(i) that the composition, volume or weight of packaging be restricted or limited to such extent as is consistent with its purpose of providing protection for the product or substance concerned,

(ii) that packaging be designed, produced and used so as to be capable of being re-used,

(k) requiring products to be designed, manufactured or constructed in a specified manner or in accordance with such standards as may be prescribed in accordance with regulations under paragraph (l),

(l) enabling a specified person or persons to prescribe standards for the purposes of regulations under paragraph (k),

(m) requiring a producer to prepare and publish, at a specified frequency and in a specified manner—

(i) a plan specifying the steps proposed to be taken by him or her to prevent or minimise the production of waste from any activity of production carried on by him or her or from a product manufactured by him or her, or any component of, or packaging related to, such a product, and

(ii) a report on the steps taken by him or her in pursuance of such a plan and the results of those steps,

(n) requiring the preparation and publication, at a specified frequency and in a specified manner, by a person who is the subject of any specified requirement of regulations under this section (other than a requirement imposed by regulations under paragraph (m)) of—

(i) a plan specifying the steps to be taken by him or her to comply with such a requirement, and

(ii) a report on the steps taken by him or her to comply with such a requirement and the results of those steps,

(o) conferring on public authorities (including the Minister) and other specified persons specified additional functions for the purpose of securing or facilitating the operation of provisions of regulations under this section,

(p) any matters consequential on, or incidental to, the foregoing.

(5) (a) Without prejudice to subsection (3) or section 7 (2), regulations under this section may make provision in relation to persons, products, substances, activities or other matters referred to in this section generally or in relation to a specified class or classes of such persons, products, substances, activities or other matters.

(b) A target an obligation to achieve which is imposed on a person by regulations under this section may be defined in such regulations by reference to a specified proportion (whether by weight, volume or otherwise) of the products, substances or other things to which the obligation relates.

(6) A person who contravenes subsection (2) (b) or a provision of regulations under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(7) In a prosecution for a contravention of regulations under this section (being a contravention consisting of a failure to achieve a target specified in the regulations), it shall be a good defence to prove that the accused took all reasonable steps to achieve the said target.